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G.E. Registers 16% Net Gain For Quarter

The General Electric Company said today that its fourth-quarter profit rose 16 percent, to a record $3.09 billion, driven by sales of service contracts at industrial businesses and advertising at its NBC television network.

Net income climbed to 93 cents a share. G.E. earned $2.67 billion, or 80 cents a share, in the period a year earlier. Revenue rose 15 percent, to $32.9 billion, from $28.6 billion, more than analysts had expected, as the company increased market share at existing businesses and through acquisitions.

''The fundamentals are very, very strong,'' said Mike Holton, an analyst at T. Rowe Price Associates in Baltimore. ''They've got almost all cylinders firing and the year 2000 will be another good year.''

G.E.'s profit was 1 cent better than the 92 cents expected by Wall Street analysts surveyed by First Call/ Thomson Financial, which tracks corporate earnings, but its shares fell $2.78125 each, to $145.9375. Part of the decline may have stemmed from confusion about a gain it took at NBC that was offset by a charge in industrial businesses, analysts said.

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In the quarter, G.E. had a $252 million gain on assets contributed by NBC to NBC Internet Inc., which began trading publicly in November. The gain was offset by a $252 million charge used to cut costs at industrial units, the company said.

Still, the stock has risen more than sixfold in the five years ended Dec. 31, while the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index more than tripled.

The company said full-year net income rose 15 percent, to a record $10.7 billion, or $3.22 a share, on revenue of $111.6 billion, making it the first United States company to realize annual profit of $10 billion.

''They do have significant momentum in a whole series of critical businesses, with growing market positions and backlogs,'' said a Banc of America Securities analyst, Russell Leavitt.

G.E.'s operating profit margin, a measure of efficiency, rose to 17.8 percent of sales in 1999 from 16.7 percent the year earlier.